Push button



Sept. 15, 1953 H. w. BATcHELLl-: 2,552,470

PUSH BUTTON Filed oct. 4, 195o y /NvE/vroR HUGH w- BA TCHELLER Patented Sept. 15, 1953 UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE PUSH BUTTON y Hugh W. Batcheller, Newton, Mass. Application october 4, 195o, serial No. 188,358

(c1. zoo- 172) 1 Claim. l

This invention relates to a push-button switch for use with electrical equipment such as cooking ranges wherein a number of push buttons are provided to be selectively pushed to close correspending circuits for different degrees of heating. The switch hereinafter described is of the same type as but is an impro-vement over the switch described and illustrated in my copending application, Serial No. 130,667,A led May 8, 1950.

The present switch has fewer parts, is easier to y assemble, and can be more easily `and cheaply made than the switch rdescribed in my said application.

According to the present invention an improved housing member is provided having a longitudinal channel in its rear face in which a set of nat slides are mounted. A series of apertures open through the front of the housing member from the channel. A series of apertures open through the front of the housing member from the channel. A push-button projects out through each aperture and has shoulders to engage portions of the inner surface of the housing member to limit the outward movement of the push button. Each push button is bifurcated and has two rearwardly extending legs with a slot between them. The slots of the several push buttons are aligned with the channel and thus receive the slides between the legs. Each push button has a wedge element at its bifurcation to engage the forward vedge of one or more of the slides when the push button is pushed in. The forward edge of each slideis notched with V-notches so that each slide can be cammed and longitudinally shifted by certain of the buttons. The rear edges of the slides are shaped to form cam lugs which engage and move transverse bridging conductors to make or break contacts in the switch, as hereinafter described.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following description thereof and to the drawing, of which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a push-button switch embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a rear view of the switch with the back plate removed, seen as indicated by the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the principal housing member; and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the push buttons.

In the following description of the switch illustrated on the drawing, it is thought of as being 2 attached to a wall in the position shown in Figure 1, but it is understood that the switch can actually be installed in any desired position.

The switch is enclosed in a housing consisting of two members, a principal member I0 which is lpreferably a unitary molded member of plastic material which is preferably but not necessarily electrically insulating, and a flat rear plate I2 which is secured to the molded member l0 by any suitable means such 4as bolts and nuts I4, the plate l2 being preferably of insulating material.

The molded member l0 is characterized by a longitudinal slot 20 in the rear face thereof which extends from a point close to one end to a point close to the other end and is of sufficient depth to extend nearly to the forward face of the molded member. A series of parallel holes or apertures 22 extend through the molded member from the rear to the front thereof, these apertures being preferably rectangular in section and transversely intersecting the slot 20. Each aperture 22 is formed with a constriction at its 'forward' end forming interior shoulders 24 near the front of rthe member I0. Slidably tted in each aperture 22 is a push button 30 having an elongated shank. Each push button is provided with shoulders 32 adapted to engage the shoulders 24 in its aperture to limit the forward or outward movement of the push button. Each push button 30 is bifurcated so that it has two parallel extensions or legs 34 which are spaced from each other by a slot 36.

In the forward end of the slot 36 and at the rear end of the shank is a wedge element 38 which, as indicated in Figure 2, preferably has a dihedral angle of When each push button 30 is in its normally extended position, its shank projects forward from the housing member I0, its shoulders 32 engage the interior shoulders 24 within the housing member, and its legs 34 are slidably fitted within the housing. The push buttons are so arranged that the slots 36 thereof are aligned with the channel 20 and are of substantially the same width thereas so that when the push buttons are assembled with the housing member l0 the slots 36 are virtually portions of the longitudinal channel 20. In order to prevent looseness of the push buttons, a frictional spring 40 may be mounted on one of the legs of each push button. As shown in Figure 6, the spring 40 is a short strip of resilient material such as bronze which is bowed so as to bulge away from the side of the leg 34, the spring having short parallel end portions engaging respectively the shoulder 32 and the rear end face of the leg 34. The Width of the portion of each aperture 22 to the rear of the shoulders 24 is suiiicient to receive with a friction fit the legs 34 of a push button and the spring 40 which is on one of them.

In the longitudinal channel 20, which virtually includes the slots 36, a set of thin slides 42 are slidably fitted. These slides are preferably of equal length, such length being slightly less than that of the channel 20 so as to permit limited longitudinal sliding movement. The forward edge of each slide 42 is formedwith V-notches which are variously arranged in the diirerent slides of the set. `Since the forward portions of the slides are fitted between the legs 34 of the push buttons, the inclined edges of the V-notches` are engageable by certain of the wedge elements 38 of the push buttons when the buttons are pushed in, that is, toward the rear. The sloping sides of the V-notches are so arranged that only one of the push buttons can be pushed in at a time. There is a mutualca-mming action between the wedge elements 38 and the sloping'edges of the V-notches so that when .any of the push buttons is pushed in, it shifts certain of the slides longitudinally and one of the shifted slides will cam outward the push button which has previously been pushed in. In the particular switch shown in the drawing, eight push buttons are shown, seven of these push buttons being for the purpose of connecting various circuits to produce varying degrees of heating when the switch is `connected properly with suitable heating units and a source of electric power. The eighth button is the off button which, when pushed in, shifts a slide to cam outward whatever one of the other seven may have previously been pushed in to connect some heating element with a source of power.

The rear margin of each slide 42 has aligned edge portions 46 which bear slidably against the back plate l2 and take the rearward thrust of the push buttons against the slides so that the slides are properly cammed by the wedge element 38 on the button which is pushed in. The rear margin of each slide is further recessed as at 48, the edges of the slides in such recesses being shaped to form camming lugs 5l) to bear against bridging conductors 52 which are mounted in suitable shallow recesses in the rear face of the housing member I0 and extend transversely with respect to the slides 42. Each of the bridging con- M ductors 52 is fixed at one end, the other end being `free and being provided with a contact button 54 adapted to make contact with a corresponding xed element 56. The bridging conductors 52 are of resilient material such as bronze and are normally in such a position that the contact buttons 54 press against the corresponding elements 56. When the switch is in the off position, each bridging conductor 52 is sprung by a cam lug 50 on some one of the slides 42 to a position in which its contact button or buttons 54 are separated from the corresponding terminal elements 56 as illustrated in Figure 4.

The molded member IB is preferably made initially with a sufficient number of properly placed holes, as illustrated in Figure 5, to receive the fixed elements such as' the terminals 56 and a number of rivets or screws 60 by which suitable connecting elements 62 and the bridging conductors 52 are secured to the housing member l0. In assembling the switch, push buttons are thrust through'the apertures 22 from the rear of the housing member until their shoulders engage the inner shoulders 24. Av set of slides is then inserted in the slot 20, the bridging conductors 52 are then secured in place, and the back plate 46 is secured to the back of the housing member I0. The switch is then ready to be connected in suitable circuits for operation.

I claim:

In a multiple push-button switch, a push-button having a rectangular shank, two parallel spaced extensions at the rear end of the shank projecting in the same direction as the shank, the outer faces of said extensions being outwardly 01T,- set from the corresponding faces of the shank to form shoulders, a wedge element at the rear end of the shank in the space between said extensions, and a friction element loosely attached to said push-button, said element consisting of an arcuate strip of spring material against the outer face of one of said extensions, said strip having short parallel end portions bearing respectively against the shoulder and rear end of said extension.

HUGH W. BATCHELLER` References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,381,978 Mathes Aug. 14, 1945 2,430,189 Schellman Nov. 4, 1947 2,431,904 Andrews Dec. 2, 1947 2,469,650 Isserstedt May l0, 1949 2,529,374 Caruso Nov. 7, 1950 2,534,715 Horton Dec. 19, 1950 

